ATER Book 2: Air

Chapter 3: Training

"Breath is probably the most important factor in airbending," Salwa stated, "except for the air itself." She crossed her legs on the ground, putting her knuckles together, and motioned for me to do likewise.

"I don't remember the real reason," Salwa continued, "of why the Air Nomads meditated in the morning. But I do it so that I can get a feel for the air around me." I nodded in understanding.

"Because the air changes," I finished. Salwa smiled.

"That was, uh, totally what I was going to say!" The entire time Salwa and I had been talking, her brothers Akito and Seito had been meditating with only the sound of their breath to signify that they were alive.

Salwa caught my eye and raised a finger to her lips. I inwardly groaned. This wasn't going to be pretty. She crept over to where her brothers sat. Slowly, she stuck both her index and pointer fingers in her mouth, getting as much saliva as she could onto their surfaces, and drew them out of her mouth.

She then proceeded to jam her pointer finger in Akito's left ear, and her index finger in Seito's right ear. I only knew which brother was which because I'd asked. It it took about 20 seconds for them to realize the fingers in their ears.

Akito lurched right into Seito, knocking him into Salwa's finger even more. Seito, not happy at all, lurched into Akito, knocking heads. Salwa withdrew her fingers and watched her brothers topple forward, dizzy from the impact. She had one of the smuggest expressions I'd ever seen.

Unfortunately, Salwa's mother had been walking along the path from the main building to the training area near the pavilion (where we were) when Salwa had done it.

"Salwa!" she exclaimed, wagging her finger with a stern expression. "You apologize right now!" Salwa sighed rather loudly, but did as she was told.

Her mother turned back to me, giving me a tight smile. "My mother thought it would be wise if I checked up on you four," she told me. "Make sure you're not tearing each other to shreds."

Salwa gave a loud sigh. "Mother, please. I've got this under control." Pointing at her brothers, still moaning from the impact, she added, "And could you take these two with you? They're obviously ill-suited right now for watching us."

"Excuse me," I interrupted, "but Salwa is right. They'll just be moaning about their headaches all day. Besides, Salwa can handle me by herself." I bit the inside of my cheek. That excuse was not a good one. It wasn't likely that they were going to have a headache all day, but, then again, I didn't know Salwa's strengths.

Thankfully, Salwa's mother relented. "All right," she replied. Turning to Salwa, she continued, "I want you to give Luna some good- no, great- training." Helping Akeito and Seito to stand and leave, she left without another word.

"Finally!" Salwa exclaimed. "Now where was I?"

"You were talking about feeling the air around you."

And so my training began. For the first couple if weeks or so, Salwa mostly focused on forms and meditating. She also had me try out some old airbending tools, like passing through the spinning gates, or playing ball by bounding on top of wooden posts.

Then, she taught me how to airbend. The key is to open your mind and spirit to the air around and above. That way, you are able to listen and capture its movements like a camera.

Which is funny, because Salwa's mother did capture our training on her camera. It was one of the only pieces of modern technology they had, and was only allowed because it helped record history.

Anyhow, I was very surprised to find out how easily airbending came to me. The movements were so much like waterbending, flowing to fill any space. It's hard to explain, but it's like you're talking with the air and making an agreement to bend the way you want it to. It's not exactly like that, but it's the best way I can explain it.

It was only sometimes that Khanu and Morada could come to watch us train. The Air Acolytes kept them very busy with cleaning since they could bend water into places unreachable.

While Morada seemed to enjoy watching us train, Khanu seemed to grow gloomier and moodier with each session that he saw. But this time, he took it too far.

Salwa was normally very nice during training, but when it came to running forms, she was as stern as a schoolteacher.

"I want those breaths coarser, those swipes of the air sharper!" she yelled at me while I went about doing the form. "Make those with the air as if it were a sharp dagger!"

I finished the form with a slice that could've torn out each individual fiber out if a piece of paper. Salwa nodded her approval. Khanu stifled a yawn behind his hand. I stifled the urge to tell him to go take a nap.

"Why don't we take a break?" Salwa suggested. I nodded. It was so hot out here, it felt like I was boiling in the sun. I jumped into the stream near the training area to cool down. The water was so shallow that I could lie on the bottom of the stream and still be able to breath above the water.

It felt so good to have the water rushing through my clothes, cooling every heated part of my body. It was so peaceful and calming and...

"I just thought of something cool!" Salwa exclaimed. So my much for serenity. I sat up in the stream to face her.

"What's so cool?" Salwa grabs one if our soup bowls (clean), dips it in the water, yells, "Catch the water!" and tosses the element into the air. I lift my hand and will the water to stop.

"Now watch this." She began to make a pulling motion at the water. Only until it seems like there was nothing left in the air that I realized she was pulling the oxygen out of the water, leaving the hydrogen to dissipate.

"Whoa," I whispered, completely amazed. Her face was lighting up, and she was buzzing with excitement.

"Luna, don't you know what this means?! Since you can bend both water and air, you'll be able to do this by yourself. You'll be able to pull air out if the water! Or water out if the air! But you can make it to where you can manipulate both elements at the sane time, taking them apart, putting them back together!"

In all of Salwa's excitement, Khanu just stood up and left. Right in the middle! And I had no idea why.

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I'm not totally sure if you guys thought that this chapter was long, but writing it made it feel long. Like in Book 1, I'll be updating two chapters at once. This next chapter had been burning a hole through my mind for almost a month! Quite possibly even more! Get ready for some mega feels and LOTS of action in the next couple of chapters!! Thanks so much for reading! Feel free to comment and don't forget to vote!

Ciao!-Lauren